SmartHand prosthesis restores sensation to user

Under the files of “gadgets doing good” comes the SmartHand, an EU-based project between Italy and Sweden devoted to the research and creation of neurologically-stimulated prostheses. While many prostheses function as stationary appendages, the SmartHand returns mobility to the user, and, most important, renewed tactility.

Though the user of SmartHand may have lost an appendage, their brain will still send signals to where the arm should be; these are called ElectroMyoGraphic (EMG) signals. Surface electrodes transmit EMG signals from the brain to a motor in the robotic arm, allowing the user to grip objects tightly and wave individual digits. While certainly impressive, the true breakthrough comes from the user experiencing actual sensations of having a restored limb. As the arm receives signals from the brain, it also gives feedback. And though the phantom pains from having lost a limb never fully diminish, the electronic signals from the SmartHand assist to assuage the discomfort.

In modern times, feelings of alienation and depression from the experience of amputation persist, but are being addressed through compassionate projects like the SmartHand. A goal of understanding amputees neurologically and biologically seems logical and perhaps even tacit; however, this appears to be the first time such foci have been used to restore sensation to the amputee. This research has already yielded some excellent results. Seen in the video above, a 22 year old man who lost a limb to cancer has restored sensation, which he describes as, “fantastic.”